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news
“Cyclists are running riot!” Richard Madeley, Timmy Mallett, and Howard Cox ‘debate’ bike number plates on Good Morning Britain; Backlash against “sexist” race organiser who called pro riders “spoiled children” over safety fears + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
No Live Blog item found.
Howard Cox and Timmy Mallett debate cycling number plates on Good Morning Britain12 June 2023, 08:06
“Cyclists are running riot!” Richard Madeley, Timmy Mallett, and Howard Cox ‘debate’ bike number plates on Good Morning Britain – as Fair Fuel UK founder claims cyclists “don’t contribute anything financially to the roads”
So, Richard Madeley, Timmy Mallett, and Howard Cox walk into a TV studio and debate whether cyclists should be forced to put registration plates on their bikes…
No, I’m not describing a live blog and warm weather-induced fever dream I had last night – that was what actually occurred this morning on Good Morning Britain, the home of sensible, breakfast-accompanying discussion in the UK.
And, you’ll perhaps be surprised to learn (though maybe not), it was even more frustrating than it sounds.
'We want to encourage people to be on their bicycles'
'When you go through a 20mph zone and you're being overtaken by electric bikes and other bikes it's an issue'
Should cyclists have registration plates? pic.twitter.com/XuinL88709
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 12, 2023
Truncated due to Michael Gove’s incessant blathering about some former MP (Boris somebody? I didn’t quite catch the name), the ‘debate’ – titled “Should cyclists have registration plates?” – was an awkward, random, and chaotic assortment of mystifying statements and anti-cycling bingo tropes.
Fair Fuel UK founder Cox – a friend of the live blog – made sure to hit all his favourite points right from the start.
“As any HGV, van, or taxi driver will tell you, cyclists are running riot, running red lights, riding on pavements,” he said.
Most cyclists are doing 30 in a 20z jumping red lights. If a big guy on a bike travelling at 30 hits you its not much different to a motorcycle at the same speed.
— henry wright (@swwchels93) June 12, 2023
Cox also noted that people using e-bikes are riding at “30, 35mph” in 20mph zones (a claim that made e-bike aficionado Mallett raise his eyebrows), while he – again dubiously, I must add – added that cyclists “don’t contribute anything financially to the roads”.
Hmmm…
> 'Road tax' is coming... but not for cyclists
Unfortunately, the brilliantly attired Mallett was somewhat less succinct in formulating his own argument against cycling number plates (such as the ludicrous amount of resources that would be required to implement such a measure), a debating style not helped by Richard “I ride my bike every three days” Madeley ignoring his attempts to intervene during Cox’s more questionable claims.
Of course, what passed as a debate on British breakfast TV comes just days after Italy’s transport minister pledged to introduce tougher laws for cyclists, including requiring riders to wear a helmet, take out insurance, and put number plates and indicators on their bikes – before almost immediately backpedalling in the midst of a fierce backlash by claiming that the laws were only ever intended for scooter users.
(Remind you of anyone, Grant?)
And anyway, despite all that nonsense on GMB, surely the Great British public have a much more considered take on the whole matter… or maybe not.
According to a Twitter poll carried out this morning by the programme, at the time of writing 70 percent of respondents believe that cyclists should in fact have number plates:
Should cyclists have registration plates?
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 12, 2023
Oh dear… Timmy, come back!
12 June 2023, 14:45
“It was a good April Fool’s gag in 1985”: Timmy Mallett responds to TV debate that “was over before it began”, and calls for “education not legislation”
Richard Madeley may not have afforded him too much time to stick up for cyclists on national television, but at least Timmy Mallett can take to Strava to rubbish the argument that people on bikes should carry around registration plates.
Posting on the app following his abrupt, rather frustrating appearance alongside Fair Fuel UK’s Howard Cox this morning, the broadcaster wrote:
Come and be in a telly debate… except they rand out of time! And the whole piece was over before it began.
So I got on my bike and pedalled back to Berkshire off road and cycle trails through Osterley Park, Langley Park, Grand Union Canal tow path, Colne Valley trail, and Burnham Beeches. Nice (top speed – slow).
Should bicycles have number plates, MOTs, licences?
It was a good April Fool’s gag on Wacaday in 1985.
Let’s try practising nice behaviour on the roads and when we come across someone who rubs us up the wrong way imagine they are someone you know.
Someone you like…
It’s education, not legislation.
(North Korea is the only country to have something like this, and at the last count we don’t take lessons from there.)
12 June 2023, 15:45
Last word on cycling number plates…
FOR THE LOVE OF CHRIST. NOT. AGAIN. YOU UTTER MORONS. pic.twitter.com/1tlSEh5BFN
— Simon Warren (@100Climbs) June 12, 2023
12 June 2023, 15:11
Bini’s back! Girmay returns to winning ways with comfortable sprint win at the Tour de Suisse… and gets mobbed by his adoring Eritrean fans
Biniam Girmay has certainly whetted the appetite for the sprint stages at next month’s Tour de France, outsprinting Arnaud Démare and Wout van Aert to take a confidence-boosting comeback win on stage two of the Tour de Suisse this afternoon.
After last year’s sensational breakthrough season, which saw him take top-tier wins at Gent-Wevelgem and the Giro d’Italia, 2023 has been a topsy-turvy one for the 23-year-old, with an early win at Valenciana and decent placings at Tirreno-Adriatico overshadowed by a subpar (for his already lofty standards) classics campaign, which ended in miserable fashion following a horrible crash at the Tour of Flanders.
Bini is back 🙌
Biniam Girmay wins Stage 2 of the Tour of Switzerland - and is immediately swarmed by delighted fans 🇪🇷
Incredible scenes at the #tourdesuisse23 pic.twitter.com/nD9zJ3zf6N
— Eurosport (@eurosport) June 12, 2023
Following his comeback from concussion last week, the Eritrean star took fourth at the Brussels Cycling Classic, and underlined his return to form today with an impressively strong surge at the end of a cagey sprint in Nottwil.
As the pace slowed on the final straight, as lead-out men peeled off early, it was left to Van Aert to open the sprint from 300m out. While the Belgian struck out from distance, so did Girmay, who quickly jumped off the wheel of Movistar’s Iván García Cortina before overhauling the fading Van Aert in the final 75 metres. A fast finish from Démare, who found himself boxed in at the crucial moment, wasn’t enough to beat the flying Girmay, who sealed his return to the top in typically flamboyant fashion to take his first win since February and put down an ominous marker for next month’s Tour.
Oh, as well as sparking a brilliant, joyous outpouring of emotion from the jubilant Bini fan club at the finish…
Girmay surrounded by delighted Eritrean supporters, soigneurs and staff struggling to get near him, finish line crowded too pic.twitter.com/1lPGFdJ1vo
— the Inner Ring (@inrng) June 12, 2023
Absolute scenes.
12 June 2023, 14:09
Is Egan Bernal heading to the Tour de France?
Judging by his Strava, it looks like 2019 Tour de France winner Egan Bernal could be set to make his first appearance for three years at cycling’s biggest race next month.
The 26-year-old appears to be slowly returning to form following his horrific training crash last year, picking up two top tens overall at the Tour de Romandie and Tour de Hongrie, before climbing amongst the very best at the Critérium du Dauphiné last week, where he finished 12th on GC.
And today, the Ineos Grenadiers rider followed up his promising week at the Dauphiné by undertaking a recce of stage 16 of this year’s Tour, a hilly 22.4km individual time trial between Passy and Combloux.
The Colombian’s investigative spin has certainly contributed to raising hopes that he will make his first appearance at the Grande Boucle since abandoning with injury during his ill-fated title defence in 2020.
If Bernal is selected as part of Ineos’ eight-rider squad, it’ll be interesting to see if the British team allows him to go stage hunting, or whether he’ll aim for his own high GC placing or be confined to domestique work as he continues to regain his old strength.
In any case, I’m sure most cycling fans would be delighted just to see one of the sport’s biggest talents back on the biggest stage of them all in July.
12 June 2023, 13:38
“Morality and lack of shame are missing in action”: Greater Manchester mayoral candidate vows to ban World Naked Bike Ride
Greater Manchester independent mayoral candidate (and vocal opponent of all things active travel) Nick Buckley – who you may remember from his chat about Just Stop Oil with concrete grower Mike Graham last month – has outlined his vision for the city and its people… by banning World Naked Bike Ride Day, apparently:
This will not be allowed in Greater Manchester next year - if I’m elected Mayor.
We need to bring back common decency and self respect.
Morality and lack of shame are missing in action. https://t.co/bPg37ktGTQ— Nick Buckley 4 Mayor (@NickBuckleyMBE) June 10, 2023
He better stay away from Salford’s magic cycling roundabout, or there’ll be hell to pay! Of course, all this would actually require Buckley getting elected…
12 June 2023, 13:07
Wout van Aert criticises “disturbing” Netflix Tour de France series: “It’s focused on commotion”
The reviews are slowly streaming in for Netflix’s long-awaited Tour de France series (we might even get round to chatting about it on the next Podcast episode. Maybe), but one particularly negative review may give the producers some cause for alarm.
Wout van Aert, one of the stars of the series thanks to his stage-winning, green jersey grabbing, mountain domestiquing performance during last year’s race, isn’t too impressed by the series’ apparent need to create drama where, he says, there was none.
Like many F1 stars before him, who questioned the arguably fictional storylines prevalent in Drive to Survive (made, of course, by the same people behind Unchained), Van Aert says the series is too “focused on commotion” – namely that between himself and Jumbo-Visma leader Jonas Vingegaard, who, if you believe Unchained’s narrative, wasn’t too impressed with his Belgian teammate’s decision to ride away solo to a storming stage victory in Calais early on in the race.
A.S.O./Pauline Ballet
“I was finally able to take a look. Because strange, but true, although I play one of the leading roles, I did not know what would be seen,” Van Aert, who also says he will focus on stage wins and not the green jersey at next month’s Tour, told Sporza this week.
“It is quite disturbing that stories were written in the documentary that were not there. For me, the series is aimed at commotion.
“Jonas and I are best mates. The focus is on moments when it is difficult to make the right choice, but there are also so many moments in which we have strengthened each other and worked together. It is a pity that that has been removed.”
Hmmm… I wonder if Van Aert’s negative reaction to his onscreen depiction will affect Jumbo-Visma’s co-operation with this year’s documentary, with filming already underway? I suppose we’ll have to wait to next year to find out…
12 June 2023, 12:37
Government will struggle to introduce 'death by dangerous cycling' law before next general election, report suggests
The introduction of a ‘death by dangerous cycling’ law, proposed by then-Transport Secretary Grant Shapps last year, is unlikely to be passed before the next general election due to a lack of parliamentary time – though ministers may now turn their attention to a private member’s bill.
Read more:
12 June 2023, 11:58
“Italy’s cyclists are a public menace”: Spectator journalist claims Italian government’s “crackdown on cyclists is long overdue”
Brace yourself. After Howard Cox’s appearance on Good Morning Britain today (as well as Richard Madeley’s latest attempt to out-Partridge himself), it’s the Spectator’s turn to weigh in on cyclists, number plates, tougher rules, and the like.
According to Italy-based Nicholas Farrell, Italian transport minister Matteo Salvini’s plans to make cyclists wear helmets, get insurance, and ride with number plates and indicators (a pledge which the right-wing politician has subsequently backpedalled on) are “long overdue”.
> Italy’s Deputy PM Salvini backpedals on number plates for cyclists – “It’s just for scooters”
Farrell, whose 2003 revisionist history of Benito Mussolini characterised Il Duce as “unfairly maligned”, has his history with cyclists, as his article in today’s Spectator shows.
He notes his first column for a regional paper in Romagna was “tirade against cyclists”, in which he wrote that “I could not help cheer when I read the other day that a cyclist had disappeared into a huge hole in the road he had seen too late and had not come out”.
One paragraph later, Farrell provides us with the reasoning behind this visceral hatred of people on bikes – they “force motorists to waste precious time watching their lycra-clad rear ends bobbing up and down”.
Ah, of course.
The columnist claims that “years of exposure to their arrogance, illegality, and sense of entitlement has shown me that Italy’s cyclists are a public menace” who “break the laws that already exist pathologically”, and that Salvini’s proposed crackdowns “brought a smile to my face”.
Because, Farrell claims, Italy’s cyclists are a “protected species” (the death toll on the country’s roads suggests otherwise).
> Internet troll who wrote “Run over one cyclist to educate 100” cleared by judge
A nearby road, he says, “is a death trap because it is too narrow and people drive too fast”. But who does he blame? Cyclists, of course.
The Grant Shapps-esque Salvini, according to Farrell, “opposes the tyranny of the cyclist, not in the name of fascism, but in the name of liberty. The liberty, for instance, to go to work. You need look no further than London to see where such a two-wheel tyranny leads. It’s not reactionary, it’s democracy.”
I think I might need a whole new bingo book before today’s finished…
12 June 2023, 11:21
From the Roubaix velodrome to the local club 50: Josh Tarling smashes 50-mile time trial record on return to home roads
19-year-old Josh Tarling has enjoyed something of a whirlwind start to life as a professional cyclist.
In his first stage race as a pro, at the Etoile de Bessèges in February, the Ineos Grenadiers youngster finished second in the final 10km time trial, behind former world champion Mads Pedersen no less, before racing against the biggest names in the world at the UAE Tour and Paris-Nice.
A bloodied and battered Tarling exits the Trouée d'Arenberg at the 2023 Paris-Roubaix (Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)
Then, in April, the Welshman became the youngest rider in 86 years to take on the cobbled hell of Paris-Roubaix during his very first classics campaign. Despite a series of crashes and punctures, Tarling bravely battled his way to the Roubaix velodrome (though cruelly he was recorded as outside the time limit).
And now, after racing the Tour of Norway at the end of May, Tarling is enjoying a bit of downtime at home in Wales. And by downtime, I mean smashing every time trial record going.
Josh Tarling setting a course record in a 50 mile TT today, 1h35s26.
Can we have an 80km TT next year please @LeTour
📷 GBM photography https://t.co/FrrDRiQmph pic.twitter.com/Rw8zg7J6Ml
— Josh Owen Morris (@JoshOwenMorris) June 11, 2023
At yesterday’s Bynea CC 50-mile time trial near Llandovery in Carmarthenshire, the 2022 junior world time trial champion took a whopping 57 seconds off the previous record time, set by Polish TT ace Marcin Bialoblocki in 2019, covering the course in 1:35.26 – almost 25 minutes faster than his nearest rival on the day, Cycling Time Trials reported.
And that’s not all. On Tuesday evening, he set an unofficial course record of 17.37 at the Pontypool RCC 10-mile time trial, and on Thursday beat his own unofficial marker with a 17.22 at the Monmouthshire Wheelers 10.
Blimey. I imagine more than a few Welsh racers will be volunteering to marshal at their local club 10 for the next while…
12 June 2023, 10:51
Elsewhere on road.cc this morning…
Here’s a selection of the latest news, reviews, and previews to help you while away your Monday lunch hour:
> "Complex rope rescue" after cyclist crashes from bridge into river
> Review: Giant Propel Advanced Pro 1 2023
And with the Dauphiné coming to a fairly tepid end yesterday (don’t worry, we’ve still got Wout and Remco at the Tour de Suisse), the countdown to this year’s Tour de France has well and truly started.
So I think it’s about time you became acquainted with the intricacies of this year’s pretty savage route, by getting stuck into our detailed stage-by-stage guide. Unless you’re a time triallist, of course, then this Tour just isn’t for you…
> Tour de France 2023: From Bilbao to Paris, our stage-by-stage guide to cycling’s biggest race
What do you mean, you still haven’t finished watching the Netflix doc yet?
12 June 2023, 10:21
Timmy Mallett: The Voice of (Utterly Brilliant) Reason
From this morning’s comments section:
It’s Mallett’s world, we’re all just living in it…
12 June 2023, 10:11
Bloody cyclists! (Quite literally…)
Brilliant clip – especially love how the cyclist just nonchalantly rode away across the field afterwards – though I’m less sure that the anti-cycling bashing was necessary in the caption…
12 June 2023, 09:55
So… Pro riders wanting a road closed to traffic means they’re “spoiled”, but when amateurs are riding through…
On what was the finishing circuit for Fridays stage of the tour of the Pyrenees (where there where parked and moving cars in the last 3km) the road is currently totally closed (large police presence at junctions) with all cars cleared for a sportive. I am totally speechless pic.twitter.com/saRIpKSAKc
— Connie Hayes (@connie_hayes123) June 11, 2023
To add yet more insult to insult to injury, it turns out that it is in fact perfectly possible to completely close off a road through Lourdes for a cycling event.
If that cycling event happens to be an amateur sportive, and not an elite women’s pro race, apparently.
22-year-old British pro Connie Hayes, who was riding the Tour des Pyrénées for AWOL O’Shea – and so experienced first hand the traffic bedlam on the finishing circuit through Catholic Disneyland, I mean Lourdes, on Friday – tweeted yesterday that she was “totally speechless” that the road was completely clear of parked cars, and that junctions were being guarded by police, just two days later… for a sportive.
It really is. I was speechless when we rode past this afternoon seeing a full closure where we had risked our lives in an elite uci race just days before and I am not someone who is usually speechless!
— Connie Hayes (@connie_hayes123) June 11, 2023
Exactly, I am so confused by the organisers comments as we race multiple times a year in France and never have any issues and nearly always feel safe for the whole race
— Connie Hayes (@connie_hayes123) June 11, 2023
12 June 2023, 08:56
“They think they’re on the Tour de France”: Backlash against “sexist” race organiser who called pro riders “girls” and “spoiled children” over cancellation due to safety fears
Unfortunately, this year’s Tour Féminin des Pyrénées won’t be remembered for a scintillating battle on the fearsome Hautacam, or for Marta Cavalli’s long-awaited return to winning ways after a difficult year.
Instead, the three-day stage race will be remembered for the UCI’s decision to call off the final stage following protests from a peloton concerned for its safety after two stages dominated by members of the public driving on the course (and even towards the riders), parked cars littering the final kilometres of stage one into Lourdes, race motorbike riders creating hazardous conditions, spectators wandering on the roads, a lack of marshals, and, finally, successful calls to neutralise most of the second stage to the foot of the Hautacam.
> "What a mess": Chaos as live traffic passes metres from racing peloton
“Considering the safety risks involved, we firmly believe that a bike race is not worth endangering the lives of the female cyclists,” Adam Hansen, the head of the riders’ union the CPA, said in a statement announcing that yesterday’s third and final stage had been cancelled.
If your finale looks like this, with random vehicles everywhere, you're not worth organizing a race. What were they even thinking? The attitude of the organizers makes it clear: no single rider will participate if there comes a new edition without drastic changes. pic.twitter.com/VUvJOhXjdt
— BramDesmet (@BramDesmetKoers) June 11, 2023
> Tour Féminin des Pyrénées stopped amidst rider safety issues
So, how did the organiser of the Tour des Pyrénées react to being at the centre of a media frenzy (the race’s cancellation even made the BBC’s website!) concerning the running of his event?
By creating another, entirely different kind of media frenzy.
“What is happening is that the girls have requirements that are not in line with their level,” race director Pascal Baudron told La Nouvelle République yesterday morning.
“They imagine that they are on the Tour de France and that all the roads must be closed. But in France you cannot do that.”
Baudron continued: “They are sawing off the branch of which they are sitting. The day when there will be no more races, they will cry and that’s what’s going to happen.
“Quite honestly, I tell myself that it is not worth organising a race to see all those months of effort ruined for the whims of spoiled children.”
Omg those comments are from someone from the 15th century! Certainly they can’t organise a race if they do not think the athletes deserve safety measures ! Unacceptable!
— Evelyn Campos Flores 🌳 (@wevecampos) June 12, 2023
Unsurprisingly, Baudron’s questionable use of language, and his belief that top-tier pro cyclists are “spoiled children” for believing that they should be able to race without motorists driving at them, hasn’t gone down too well with most of the cycling community.
Some described the organiser’s comments as “sexist”, “offensive”, and “from the 15th century”, with Twitter user Jonathan writing: “The numerous use of ‘girls’ and ‘spoiled brats’ is quite telling of his attitude towards women”.
You'd expect something like yeah it was not good enough but it's hard and we'll do better next year. But this is just taking the piss with road cycling and the sponsors should not be happy. That's saying it nicely.
— Marco van den Hout (@mvdhout) June 11, 2023
“Female riders being called spoiled for, er, not wanting to be hit by cars?” wrote cycling journalist Matilda Price. “Extremely basic levels of safety shouldn’t be the reserve of the Tour.”
“Sounds like it’s the race organisers with ‘requirements above their level,” added Ryan. “They expect the best cyclists in the world to show up to their race but they're not competent enough to fill out the forms to close the roads?”
Organising a major bike race is tough (as we’ve seen in Britain over the past year or so), but that’s certainly one way of ensuring you lose all the sympathy you had from onlookers, I suppose…
After obtaining a PhD, lecturing, and hosting a history podcast at Queen’s University Belfast, Ryan joined road.cc in December 2021 and since then has kept the site’s readers and listeners informed and enthralled (well at least occasionally) on news, the live blog, and the road.cc Podcast. After boarding a wrong bus at the world championships and ruining a good pair of jeans at the cyclocross, he now serves as road.cc’s senior news writer. Before his foray into cycling journalism, he wallowed in the equally pitiless world of academia, where he wrote a book about Victorian politics and droned on about cycling and bikes to classes of bored students (while taking every chance he could get to talk about cycling in print or on the radio). He can be found riding his bike very slowly around the narrow, scenic country lanes of Co. Down.
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102 comments
The paying for the roads argument is disingenuous as neither cars nor bikes create much damage. It's the heavy lorries and buses that cause by far the most damage, so it would make sense to focus on them first if we want to charge road users for the damage caused.
I was sitting on a wall about 20 or so metres from the road and every time a lorry went past I could feel the whole ground shake. They must be causing masses of damage to the roads.
There's more road damage when they brake or accelerate rather than just rundling along. That's why the road is usually a lot worse by traffic lights and bus stops.
As also illustrated by all that weirdness you get on road surfaces at bus stops, where the road surface is all distorted, humped and wavy.
There are studies showing that road damage relates to the 4th (!) power of vehicle axle loading. Merely doubling axle load causes 16 times as much damage to the road. In practice this means that that bikes cause no damage at all to roads. But we knew that.
Is this why everyone gets upset when kids do wheelies in the street?
"MILLENNIUM".
"FALCON"
So what FairFuelUK are saying, is we need a war on the motorists (particularly illegal electric MOTORbike riders). I can get behind that.
You could almost start to think that FairFuelUK is funded by oil companies. Down with these electric vehicles that can be fuelled through wind and solar energy...
Is it? That would be interesting to know.
I know for a long time they got funding from the likes of the Road Haulage Association, but recently RHA have distanced themselves from FFUK and no longer contribute financially.
This is all I can find on their website:
"Previous backers have included Logistics UK, the RHA, the RAC, Association of Pallet Networks, UKLPG and others"
Now then Granville....
I went to London at the weekend and saw a lot of people using illegal ebikes (though they're not classified as ebikes at that stage of course).
I think anyone who is regularly exposed to that would believe that ebike users are running riot.
You dont need to go to London. Any town served by deliveroo or justeat will do. You can get an illegal "ebike" delivered straight to your door.
Nothing really to do with cyclists in general of course. More on a par with scooter riders not wearing helmets or not passing the relevant test or not having indicators.
Yes - and we should tackle this in part with their employers. Oh, no-one is employed by those companies, they're all just "contractors"? Nothing to see here then...
Part of me is happy when I hear "cyclists taking over" - even though I know it's hyperbole.
I have some sympathy for complaints because: a) CHANGE! For generations we've been taught "stay out of the way of cars" but now there are new, quieter vehicles in the space b) regulation and enforcement are playing catch-up with new devices and technology and c) we're still relegating all non-motorised modes to fight over space left-over after providing for maximum motor vehicle driving and parking.
Exactly. I see blokes all wrapped up (even in this weather) zipping around on what look like MTBs with the whole central space of the frame filled in with "something" all wrapped up with shiny grey duct tape. I'm presuming a selection of batteries and associated gizmos, since I've never seen any of them actually pedalling...
A lot of them seem to be working for food delivery places from what I've seen. Not so much different from using little mopeds, but probably cheaper to run what with the lack of insurance etc.
That's true and I spend quite a bit of time in Bristol, though I don't live there any more, and you do see some of that around Bristol, but in London I experienced a whole new level. There were loads of types of "ebikes" (but not ebikes) I hadn't seen before, such as vehicles that looked like Harley Davidsons, but with cranks that were tucked away where your legs couldn't realistically even get at to pedal.
In the medium-sized town where I currently live, I would say ebikes are a non-issue. In Bristol, I would say they're a bit of a pain, but in London I would say it's a problem.
Some eBike riders are taking the piss though.
This morning had one guy, normal clothes, passing by me at >45kph. Chased to get on his wheel. But couldn't - he was doing at least 47 kph uphill. Next lights, before Castleknock College (a school, though kids are out now, other than last few doing their exams) he just mounts the pavement to bypass the queue of cars and the red lights.
I'm sorry, but this guy is riding a motorcycle. And I for one would be quite happy to see the full weight of the law land on him for his lack of registration, insurance, tax and unroadworthy motor vehicle (non-conformant lights, NCT, etc.).
Had another guy slowly overtake me through the Phoenix park. Not quite as bad, only about 39 kph, but he's on one of these massive "eBikes" - very thick and heavy frame, forks like a light motor-bike, and tyres that were fatter than I had on my Kawasaki AR50 as a yoof (and I sought out racing tyres for it
). That thing must weighs _at least_ 25kg, and carries several times more kinetic energy than an 8 to 10kg road bike at the same speed. He's just lolling along at 39kph, with a thick jacket on on a warm morning, barely pedalling and not sweating.
These riders are also usually not very experienced cyclists. They're not used to riding on 2 wheels at that speed. They don't know what they're doing - to read the road ahead or handle their bikes.
This 2nd guy tried to take the next roundabout (last one in the park before Cunnyngham rd) and didn't have the confidence to properly turn the bike in to the radius and carry his speed through it, so ran wide and nearly ran into the kerb.
That's just this morning. Sorry, but these 40, 50+ kph unlawful motorcycle "eBikes" _are_ a problem.
The thing is, with no formal training whatsoever it is easy for us to spot these types of law breakers from half a mile away. it would take very little additional training for police officers to be able to identify illegal e-motorbikes, pull over and fine thier riders and crush the offending vehicles. It certainly wouldn't require license plates to make that possible.
Absolutely agree. However, as you and I both know, and as is evident from this TV debate, these illegal eBike-converted-to-motorcycles are giving fuel to the cyclist haters. And making it easier for them to call for more regulation (even though, I'd agree, all it needs is for existing regs to be enforced).
The last two news stories of Police identifying illegal electric bikes travelling at speed have ended with the death of three "little angels who wouldn't hurt a fly".
And whose parents admitted to having bought their "beautiful little boys" (TM) said illegal electric motorcycles for their 15th/16th birthdays...
They are not "e-bikes" and we shouldn't describe them as such - doing so lumps them together with legal e-bike riders and other cyclists, and adds fuel to Cox's fire. I agree with the rest of your post, though - there should be a clamp down on these illegal bikes and it would be very very easy for the police to do so if they wanted. In London, for example, a handful of plain clothed cyclists as spotters, and then police officers in cars ready to stop them. [Edit - I see Patrick has made a similar point before me.]
In theory. However in the recent tragic case where two boys died crashing their e-motorbike into an ambulance having earlier been followed by a police van, the police find themselves on the back foot for daring to have policed the streets. The suggestion, widely pushed by the BBC, seems to be that the police ought never to have been following the offenders.
Rather than serving as a cautionary tale about dangers of youngsters riding illegal e-motorbikes without a licence, helmet, insurance or registration the story is framed as an example of police malfeasance
Police here in Scotland are not allowed to chase motorcyclists due to the danger to both the riders and the general public, and have not been for some years.
At the heart of this are some irresponsible kids, parents, and trading standards teams that have been decimated by cuts since 2008. The idea that it's ok to sell an item that is used illegally about 99% of the time is also mad.
Absolutely - kids test boundaries and copy adult behaviour and take it further. Yes it's difficult as a parent because your child will increasingly take their cues from *other* adults and kids as they grow. But if we make these things available kids will get access to them.
If they don't get "feedback" that something is not OK to do they'll continue to do it. (Just like adults...)
Yeah, I did think that and wondered a bit about the right way to stop them, but I didn't have a ready answer and my post was long enough already.
They're certainly becoming a presence on the roads. Seems to be a new category of vehicle, a 40-50kph e-bike with rapid acceleration and no need to pedal. Yes they're supposed to fall under motorbike law but that doesn't seem to happen in practice and it's fair to say their riders do not share the concerns of visitors to this website re road manners, visibility etc. I too wince at their riding style.
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